Our sister site,BBC Watch, was the first to flag an incorrect caption beneath this widely circulated Getty/AFP photo depicting a ‘Boycott Israel’ sign in Bethlehem.

The original Getty/AFP caption under the photo, which was also recently used by the BBC and the Guardian, read:

Palestinians walk past a sign on a wall in Bethlehem calling for a boycott of Israeli products from Jewish settlements.

However, BBC Watch contacted professional Arabic translators, who read the Arabic writing on the sign (beneath the English) and stressed that it makes no reference to a selective boycott of “products coming from Jewish settlements”, but rather urges: “boycott your occupation…support your country’s produce”.

Following communication with BBC Watch, BBC corrected their caption to more accurately reflect the precise translation, and contacted Getty Images (where the caption originated), who similarly correctedtheir caption.

Following communication between UKMW and the Guardian, their editors also agreed to change their caption beneath the photo, used to illustrate a recentarticle (Israel imposes travel ban on 20 foreign NGOs over boycott movement, Jan. 7th), to reflect the more accurate translation of the Arabic sign.

while a correction is to be welcomed, it is disconcerting that virtually ALL of the errors are errors that have the effect of, either, disparaging Israel or discounting the enmity of its enemies and the threat posed by the them.